Driving Miss Disaster

When talking to the generous gentleman up north about what I’d done with the Fancy Pony to prepare her for driving, he determined, “If she’ll pull a tire, she’ll be fine.  You should be able to just hook her up.”

So, I took a conservative approach.  I drove the tire around some more…
And we pulled it over the grass…  and up and down the gravel driveway…



Having established that she was fine with this, we hooked up to the horse cart in the indoor arena…

While leading her around, the shaft poked her in the neck when she turned.  We made noises of disappointment and unhitched from the cart.

Trade for the pony cart!

It sits a little high, so the cart is tilted up a little.  We got her all hitched up, and she stands perfectly still for the hitching process!  With some prodding, she finally moved her butt over so we could drop the shafts down on either side of her body.  Once hooked, we led her around the arena!

Then, I sat in the cart while my friend led her around the arena…
She slowly let out more line and stepped back, further out of the fancy Pony’s sight (because she can see so much in blinders, right?).

We practiced walking short distances and stopping.

She seemed to be taking it like a pro…

We took a break to think about things before returning to take a single lap around the arena.  We practiced some starts and stops again.  We continued to walk our single lap….

We made our turn around the far end…

Then, she humped her butt…  I tried to bring her to a halt, but that wasn’t in the cards and she tossed her but up a little.  That definitely isn’t OK, so I tried harder to get a halt, but she decided trotting was more her style…  At that point, she kicked with the left hind.  I have no idea what she kicked at or what she didn’t like.  Then she cantered and continued to kick each stride with that left hind.  Since the brakes weren’t effective, I tried turning (better than careening in a straight line, right?)…

First, she just turned her head and bolted on forward.  Then, she decided to go ahead and turn…  Sharply…  Still kicking…

I was ejected from the cart, it was flipped, and away they went as I watched helplessly and prayed that something broke so she could be parted from the cart.

My prayer was quickly answered as the harness broke.  The cart was left upside down, and the Fancy Pony practiced for the Kentucky Derby as she continued her laps, trailing bits of harness and my cotton driving lines…
Really impressive was when she got the lines tangled about her back legs, she didn’t push all the way out to her full stride length.  She pushed until she met the resistance of the lines, and then handily picked her legs up to begin the next one!

Finally she heard my voice, came back into herself, and stopped to look at me.  With help, I removed all the excess bits and pieces.  I tied the pony, and recovered the cart, which seemed to have survived OK.  I went back to work a little more with the pony.  The last thing I wanted her to learn was, “Oh, if I cause a wreck, I don’t have to do anymore!"

Onto the circle we went, driving to the right (no cart).  No problems!  Reverse through a serpentine, and we drive along to the left.  After a couple of laps, it reappeared: the hump, the bump, and then the kick!  She continued on a few strides until she nearly fell on her face.  Then, we drove some more.

I’m not sure what was bothering her, but it seems to be related to the crupper.  You know, the same one she has been wearing since we began this enterprise!

Later, after cleaning up and putting everything away, the resident western trainer (who I hold in high regard and have a great deal of respect for) commented to me, “I think you were just pushing her too fast.  That’s just my opinion.”

Talk about adding insult to injury.  Nothing was hurt except some harness and my pride, but my pride and my confidence has been badly damaged.  I’m left questioning my competency...  Probably because it comes from someone I respect.  Otherwise, I would probably just shrug it off and get on with it!  On the other hand, I don't want people feeling like they shouldn't speak their minds around me, because I truly do want to know what others think!  They might have some seriously valuable insight!

I'm not giving up on the driving.  My parents want to fix the harness quickly so we can get back to practicing and training.
I know it can't all be success and rainboes and unicorns...